Daijiworld Media Network

Fatullah, Feb 28: Sri Lanka and India will be playing their 144th match against each other, the most played between two teams. The two big teams lock horns in an all important match. Both teams have won their match and will be looking to go ahead of Pakistan in the table. Sri Lanka banked on the hundred from Thirimanne and the 5-fer from Malinga to pull off victory against Pakistan, where as India once again were led by a Kohli hundred in the run-chase against Bangladesh. Sri Lanka still depend heavily on Malinga with the ball in crucial moments and India on Kohli to get them the runs. It will be interesting to see what will happen to these two teams if they don't fire.

Sri Lanka have won the toss and have opted to field.

Kohli: 'We also would have bowled first as the wicket eased out in the second innings in the last match, We have a strong batting line-up and we will look to put up a decent score. Binny is replacing Varun Aaron and with his pace variations he will come handy on these wickets'.

Mathews: 'We will bowl first as the wicket eases out in the second innings. Mendis is coming in for Lakmal. The dew factor also might come into play and so we are bowling first and going with an extra spinner'.

Teams:

India (Playing XI): Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Stuart Binny

Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Kushal Janith Perera, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kumar Sangakkara(w), Mahela Jayawardene, Angelo Mathews(c), Thisara Perera, Chaturanga de Silva, Dinesh Chandimal, Sachithra Senanayake, Lasith Malinga, Ajantha Mendis

Pitch Report: 'It looks fantastic and looks the best among all. It is flat, hard and there is no grass. The ball will come on nicely on to the bat. It might slow down as the game progresses. The dew will be a factor. It is going to remain same throughout and the bowlers are going to struggle. They have to stick to wicket to wicket if they have to restrict the opposition', says Arun Lal

Match Preview

There was a time, not very long back in the past, when the very prospect of an India - Sri Lanka encounter sent down pangs of boredom for fans and media alike. So often have these sub-continental sides played each other, that all context was soon lost.

But when India take on Sri Lanka on Friday in Fatullah for the first time since the thrilling tri-series final in the West Indies last July, there will be no dearth of context and inspiration. For one, a victory against India will all but guarantee Sri Lanka of a place in the Asia Cup final while India themselves would want their struggling attack to show some kind of improvement after a slightly better exhibition of death-over bowling against Bangladesh on Wednesday.

India

Virat Kohli believes the death-bowling showed a marked improvement against Bangladesh in India's opening victory over the hosts - and the stand-in skipper might well be right for the yorkers were bowled with a certain degree of precision, lacking in earlier games.

Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Mohammad Shami had started well but Bangladesh were steered well in the middle overs and it could be argued that India did well to keep them under 300. Of course, Sri Lanka would be a different proposition, with their superior batting talent and Kohli will need his bowlers to be far tighter.

The batting will again revolve around Kohli, who slammed his 19th century and the others like Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane will be expected to build around him. It will be interesting to see if Varun Aaron, who had a poor game and suffered an injury later, will be replaced by the promising Ishwar Pandey.

Sri Lanka

The pitch in Fatullah has been way too flat for any bowler to make much of an impact - so despite Sri Lanka's superior bowling attack, the game could well be decided by the batsmen from either team. The islanders are blessed to still have the services of their two giants, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara with some very talented young batsmen to play around them. Lahiru Thirimane, Kusal Perera and Thisara Perera can build innings and destroy attacks in equal measures and they will be keen to get going against India.

While the pitch may not afford a lot for the pacers in general, the one man who will stand out throughout is Lasith Malinga, who rocked Pakistan with his sixth five-for in ODIs and will once again be Sri Lanka's trump card. Can he repeat his efforts against the Indians, who have generally played him without much trouble? His little battles within the war with India could determine the course of the match.

For India's attack, this will be a sterner test than the one against Bangladesh and if they can keep Sri Lanka to under 300, Kohli's endorsement of his bowlers will be understandable. The Lankans have some dangerous batsmen lower down the order and the likes of Kumar and Shami will have to ensure that they find their spots in the blockhole or they would be hurt.